Fanciful Fancies
by ellymango
Summary: Steven never understood the appeal of contests. That was, until, he discovered a certain performer.


Steven never understood the appeal of contests. They were too… garish, and froufrou, and extremely obnoxious, not to mention he found them unbearably _boring_ to watch. But, for some unknown reason, his friends _loved_ them.

Usually, it wouldn't bother Steven so much, especially as he was equally guilty as anyone else of having a keen interest in something. But there was just something… jarring about being the only person in your group of friends who doesn't have the same interest as everyone else.

They'd all met through their shared interest of geology and geography, and from there they'd discovered more shared interests. They all shared a liking for the same authors and literature, they all played piano, they all enjoyed cross-country running and cricket (with Steven having receive honours in both), and of course they all loved Pokémon. So, for a while they had plenty to talk about as a group.

Then… they all discovered Pokémon contests.

So here he was, reclining on a tree branch above his group of schoolmates who were all excitedly discussing the contents of their latest haul of contest magazines.

"I can't believe I've lost all my friends to magazines." He mused out loud, trying to sound as dejected and neglected as possible.

"Ah, come on Beanpole, don't be like that." One of his friends spread a poster that came free with his magazine out on the ground. "Honestly, have you even seen a contest before? You might actually like it."

Steven wrinkled his nose. "That's what my mother told me when she dragged me to one when I was 12. Never been so damn bored in all my life."

"Well… maybe that's because you didn't know who anyone was? If you read the magazines and get to know the performers…"

"Oho, so you have to buy the magazine to understand the show? Clever." Though obviously in no shortage of cash, Steven had other things he'd sooner buy than some silly magazine.

"Well, it helps if you read the magazine…"

"And I will do no such thing."

"Just give it a try." His friend was holding up a copy of one of the magazines. Eyeing it from his perch, Steven eventually sighed, and snatched it from his friends hand.

"Fine then. I could use a good laugh anyway."

Two preteen girls wearing the most ghastly outfits and most forced, vapid smiles he'd ever laid eyes upon adorned the front cover. _Dear goodness, why am I reading this._

Much to his slight chagrin, the magazine wasn't as laugh-out-loud worthy as he had presumed it would be, as after a while the amusement to be gained from the performers outlandish clothes began to wear thin, and soon he found himself bored stiff yet again.

That was until; he flipped to the middle pages.

 _Here come the boys!_ The headline screamed, catching and reeling in his attention at breakneck speed. The girls in the magazine, though somewhat pretty once you looked past the clothes and makeup, had absolutely _nothing_ on the boys of contests. They were all, suffice to say, _dazzlingly_ attractive.

"Who's this?" He kept asking, pointing at every performer on the page. His friends rallied around him eagerly, answering his questions in a torrent of names and pointless trivia.

 _"_ _Have we got you converted yet?"_

"In your dreams." Steven scoffed, turning page after page. The boys were all extremely attractive, yes, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let them know there was one aspect about contests he _liked._ Besides, none of them really stood out all that much…

"Wait," he stopped, finger pawing at a staggeringly beautiful young man, lithe and elegant, with glittering eyes and shimmering hair the colour of the sea on a bright sunny day. _"Who's this?"_

His friends flew into action.

 _"_ _That's Clancy, ain't it?"_

 _"_ _Think so. What's his first name though? Augh.."_

 _"_ _It's uhh… Wallace, right?"_

 _"_ _Yeah, that's it!_ That's Wallace Clancy, Beanpole. He's a bit of a rising star I think…?" Nods of agreement from the other boys. "Aye, he's the one who won a contest last month with a Feebas. A bloomin' _Feebas_! Guy's got serious talent…"

"Yes, fascinating." Stevens voice had lowered to a breathy whisper. He then realised that he was so enamoured by this man, this Wallace, that he'd not even looked up to face the friend who answered him, and had barely paid attention to what he was saying. "He's… quite the looker, isn't he?"

"I know that voice." He felt one of his friends leaned right into his ear. "You've got a crush on him, haven't you?"

"I might have." His cool tone was immediately offset by the light blush he felt gracing his cheeks.

"Oho, look at that boys, Steven's got a crush on a contest star. Glad we made you take a look in that magazine now, aren't you?" A lock of the heirs silvery hair was playfully flicked.

"Y'know, if you want to see him more you'll have to keep up to date on contest news… maybe we'll finally be able to drag you to see him live in action, eh?"

"It _is_ rather understandable as to why someone would fancy him… Just look at those eyes… and those cheekbones…"

"Ay, back off Thomas, that's Beanpoles future boyfriend." Steven felt an elbow nudging his ribs. "Isn't that right, Beanie?"

"Oh lay off, will you?" Steven swatted his friends away. He was probably lobbing more fuel onto their fire, but he honestly didn't care. It was blatantly obvious that he was smitten by this Wallace fellow: making it more obvious wasn't going to change anything.

"He's in pretty deep, lads, looks like we've finally converted him to contests!"

"You have not converted me to anything, I just… fancy the pants off one of the stars. That's all."

"Aye, you're in deep alright. You want more magazines?" One of them held up a stack. "Ol' Clancy's a bit of a golden boy on the contest scene. He's in all these too."

"You can keep your magazines, thank you." Indulging in his crush on someone he saw once in a magazine simply wasn't worth the ribbing he'd receive from his schoolmates for having said crush.

But on the other hand, he would be lying if he said there was something… bewitching about that performer, something almost surreal about how beautiful he was, even in a still image. Steven had been in countless relationships before, yet he'd never, _never_ felt the pull of deep, sexual attraction as strong as when he saw him.

 _Wallace Clancy eh… I'll make a point of remembering that name._


End file.
